Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-10-15
The Decline of Hospitality.
The Epoc

The chief Causes which threaten its ex
tinct1on are three:
l. The enormous increase of travel.
2. The pressure OF occupation.
| 3. TIE gro wing responsiveness Of liv-
ing, especially in the great centers.
The passion for travel which has de
veloped all countries, but most here IL
America, makes people unwilling to keep
up complicated establishment wnicB
must be shut up or LETT to run itself when
| the proprietor takes his winter trip &c
Florida or his summer jaunt TO Norway.
E ch year, therefore, Increases the num-
Der of people who prefer to live in q hs+
tel, or an apartment, with the Rwesa
possible servants. This at once becomes
a handicap on hospitality, since tha COM
| ing OF guest implies an immediate up
heaVal OF the routine of living. SN
A young married man was re1eatly
looking over the plan of fat which b.
was considering for future home, when
friend at his elbow remarked: "But il
gives you no guest room" "EXsctly
so," was the cynical response, "uhat Is
why have decided to take it," Tbs
statement may seem brutal, but it is 3
fact patent to all, that to keep open
house in New York Is to keep railroad
hotel. The STRAIN upon the nervous
vitality of the host, and especially The
hostess, would De enormous, even If IL
were their OuIy occupation; but that il
seldom is. Never perhaps in the history
Of the world has the pressure on the
vitality, the time and the nerves of men
and women been SO great as it is to-day.
How can 8 woman sit down to calm
enjoyment of visit, when she
IS haunted by the ghosts of unwritten
letters, unreturned calls and unread
books; not TO mentien such prosaic spsc-
tiers as undsrned stockings and uncsred
for children! These duties may be put
aside for one guest. but when the circle
becomes unending they grow into impOs-
sibilities. The strain upon the man Of the
house is almost IS great. He returns
from days work st the office, winch
leaves every nerve thrOb with irritation.
He is fit for nothi lg but dressing sack,
pipe and slippers before the fire, or rest
fol nap on the sofa. Instead, he is re-
quested to hurry off to me his wife's
COUSIN, or SILL worse, his own, who ar
to arrive at the Grand Central station
from Dakota st 1880. Their arrival de-
lays the dinner hour, thereby adding in
digestion to his other troubles.
So long as the expenses of living fall
we'll within the income, hospitality is
compare lively easy, but the moment there
is any difficulty in meeting the monthly
bills, visitor is actually dreaded. The
small family economies must either
be put aside and the inan-
cial problem allowed to grow
still more complicated, or they must
be made painfully apparent when con
trasted with the aggressive abundance
which riots in the streets about. How
rue is the saying that New York belongs
to the very rich and the very poor! For
the modest income there seems to be nc
abiding place in New York. Then the Cd
portunlties which, as country people
fancy, make il so eEsy to entertain visit
ors in New York, are in reality so many
uncessing calls for expenditure. The con
CERT, the theater and the opera are not, as
q rule, gratuitous entertainments.